What do you do with your reef tank....

when you go on vacation?

I am spending quite a bit on a new reef tank(75g with 55g sump). Ut I want to go somewhere on vacation this summer...we are thinking about possibly going to the east coast.

What would I need to do to have my tank be "self-sustainable" for about a week?

-Have lights on timers, using my Aqua Controller Jr. I still need to getmy DC8 and Lunar Sim.
-I am trying to come up with a semi-auto top-off so I can do a WC in just a few minutes(using 2 aqualifter pumps).
-Attach tubing to skimmer cup to go to 1g jug(emptying is needed less often).

I only know of 1 local reefer and I have only et him once to go see his tank. I would just need someone to come and feed the fish while I am away. I have people I can trust to not take stuff from the house, but I am worried about over-feeding or forgetting. I guess they would really only need to come over like 3 times?

 

I have a timer, (Will be getting ATO), auto feeder(depends on how long im out) and thats it for me..

I cant trust a local reefer, i had my neighbor come by and look after my 29g(Softie and LPS tank) told him to topoff and feed every other day or so..I came back, topoff was good, but lights have been on for a while(talking 2-3 days straight, i had a timer) And the rocks were fallen down, and a couple fish dead and corals bleached, temp got to around 88 degrees...

 

hmm..hat seems strange?

I will have a 10g ATO system in the tank stand behind my 55g sump.

I have an auto-feeder, but it won't work with the new tank...My aquarium "cabinet" has a back and top to it.


...I guess that's what I get for making it so fancy. lol.

 

Haha, well its not soo bad..But if your going out for anything over a week i think is when you need something feeding your tank..I did "expierements" with my tank before i left, i did not feed the tank for a week, or anything except topoff for a whole week and everything was fine, i obsverved them alot during it..But I would not recommend it at the same time..But if your going for vaca for anything under a week or so the fish will be okay IME

 

ennnenenn

 

I have a house sitter while we are on vacation, and I just have them fill up my ATO reservoir as needed (I only have room for a 5 gallon bucket). During my winter vacation, I left three 6 gallon jugs full of RODI beside the tank. In the dry winter climate, by tank can evaporate 5 gallons a day sometimes.

Otherwise, I just had her feed the tank sparingly once a day.

I haven't lost any livestock while on vacation. The worst I've come back to is a lot of algae to clean off the glass. LOL

 

If you do all that, and just need someone to feed, just leave very explicit instructions.
You can even portion out the food. If you're feeding flake & pellets, get one of those pill-a-day containers for keeping meds and put the amount to feed in each day. If you're afraid they'll forget, check in with them on the days they're supposed to feed.

 

I worry all the time when im on vacation.

I have 25 gallons of rodi water made and have a reefing friend stop at my place each day on the way home from work. I trust him with it and have no problem with leaving him woth my tank. However, i worry durring the other 23 hours of the day.

 

If I had a reefing friend in my town, I wouldn't be worried. But I don't. haha

That's a good idea with the pill container. I'll keep that in mind.

 

Right now I am getting a little over a half gallon per day on my 29g. The 75 reef will be more like 110g. So I should see about 3g per day evap.